Fig 1: Immunolocalization of surface marker CD44 in normal ovarian and tumor tissue sections: [A] Monoclonal anti-CD44 antibody was localized to the OSE (A, B) and ovarian cortex (C, D) with few CD44+ cells visible within OSE layer in NO, BN, BL ovaries per field as compared to HG. Region between dotted boxes in A, C is magnified in B, D respectively. NO and BN ovaries appear to harbour more CD44+ cells in cortex as compared to BL ovaries. Some regions within the ovarian cortex possess more CD44+ cells adjacent to OSE layer in HG. Typically spindle/elongated shaped CD44+ cells were present in NO, BN, BL and HG cortex with round spherical cells located moreover in OSE layer. Cortex region of HG possessed both spindle and spherical shaped CD44+ cells. Insets in D of NO, BN, HG ovaries depict representative individual cell morphology and distribution density and localization within the cortex. Scale bar = 100 µm (A, C) and 25 µm (B, D) respectively. [B] Immunofluorescence staining of CD44 in OSE layer (A) and cortex (B, C) where C and insets in BN, BL and HG (B, C) represent images captured at higher magnification. BN (B) typically represents large round fluffy cells within cortex similar to those observed in HG cortex (C). CD44+ spindle shaped cells are found throughout all the tissue samples including NO. Single large CD44+ cells and multi-nucleated clusters in BN, BL (white arrows) and HG cortex were present. White scale bar = 50 µm; blue scale bar = 10 µm. Secondary antibody conjugated with Alexa fluor 568 was employed and sections were counterstained with nuclear dye DAPI